Virginia Colony

Chapter 4: The English Colonies Section 1: The Virginia Colony U.S. History Settlement in Jamestown • 1605: Merchants ask permission to establish colony in North America • 1606: King James I grants request King James I • Joint-stock company formed Settlement in Jamestown • April 26, 1607: three ships land on Virginia coast • Sail into Chesapeake Bay & 40 miles up James river Location of Jamestown Settlement in Jamestown • Men poorly prepared • Bad location • 2/3 of original colonists dead by winter Settlement in Jamestown • Capt. John Smith—made colonists plant food crops and build sturdy housing Captain John Smith Settlement in Jamestown http://www.virtualjamestown.org/quicktime/jamestown_fort.html Powhatan Confederacy • Powhatan: alliance of Algonquian Indians • Aided colonists by teaching them how to grow food Depiction of Powhatan from map by John Smith Powhatan Confederacy • 1609: 400 new settlers arrive at Jamestown • John Smith returns to England • Winter 1609: “Starving Time” Powhatan Confederacy • Jamestown failing to make a profit Tobacco Plant • 1612: John Rolfe introduces tobacco to Virginia War in Virginia • 1614: John Rolfe marries Pocahontas • 1617: Pocahontas dies • 1618: Wahunsonacock dies Pocahontas War in Virginia • Colonists desire Powhatan land for tobacco farming • 1622: Powhatan leader killed • Opechancanough leads attack that kills 350 settlers Opechancanough from Smith's “General History of Virginia” War in Virginia • Colonists burn Indian villages • Fighting continues for 20 years • 1624: Virginia becomes a royal colony Daily Life in Virginia • Tobacco farmers begin to establish plantations • Headright system—gave 50 acres of land to colonists who paid their own way to Virginia Daily Life in Virginia • Disease • Men outnumbered women 7:1 • Families provided necessities for themselves Labor in Virginia • High death rates lead to labor shortages • Indentured Servents—agreed to work in exchange for passage to America Indentured Servant Contract Labor in Virginia • 1619: Dutch bring Africans to Virginia • Some Africans were indentured servants, others were slaves • Indentured servants cheaper initially Bacon’s Rebellion • Colonists angry with governor • Complaints about high taxes and lack of available farmland • Poor begin faming on Native American lands Bacon’s Rebellion • 1676: Nathaniel Bacon & a group of indentured servants lead an attack on peaceful Native Americans • Bacon & followers attacked & burned Jamestown Nathaniel Bacon Bacon’s Rebellion • Bacon dies of fever • 23 rebels hung • Difficult relations with Native Americans • Increased use of slaves Recapping! 1. Why were people in England interested in founding Jamestown, and when was the colony established? 2. How did Jamestown colonists interact with local American Indians? 3. How did the English plantation system begin 4. What role did indentured servants and enslaved Africans play in Virginia’s economy?